(Sports Network) - Following nearly 1,150 NHL games, Flames captain Jarome Iginla is on the verge of joining an elite class of goal scorers.
Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin's recent scoring binge has served as a reminder that the forward will likely join that company sooner rather than later.
Iginla looks to secure his 500th career goal while Ovechkin aims to push his point streak to seven straight games as Calgary visits Washington.
Now in his 15th season, Iginla pulled within one of his milestone with a goal in Sunday's 5-3 loss in Nashville. The former 11th overall pick of the 1995 draft is set to become the 42nd player to reach 500 goals and only the 15th to score them all with one club.
Brendan Morrison tallied the 200th goal of his career and Rene Bourque also scored for the Flames, who have lost three straight (0-2-1) following a four- game win streak. They play the sixth of seven straight on the road tonight.
Miikka Kiprusoff allowed four goals on 26 shots in defeat.
"In the end it was breakdowns and defensive lapses," Brent Sutter said after being denied his 100th win as the Flames' head coach. "Defensively we are not where we need to be and it's costing us."
Ovechkin's offense has keyed the Capitals as of late. The top pick of the 2004 draft has six goals and three assists over a six-game point streak and logged his second straight two-goal game in Saturday's 4-2 victory over the Blue Jackets. Ovechkin has 317 goals in 512 career games.
Dennis Wideman and Alexander Semin also scored in a four-goal third period for the Caps, who have won three in a row for the first time since they opened the season with seven consecutive victories.
"We had some breakdowns and they scored, but we were able to rally there in the third," said Washington head coach Dale Hunter. "We put some pressure on them and kept it going the whole final period."
Tomas Vokoun made 35 saves for the win as Washington is now five points back of first-place Florida in the Southeast Division. A surge at home has helped, with the Capitals outscoring their opponents 24-12 while going 5-1-0 in their last six as the host.
Behind two goals from Ovechkin and four points by Nicklas Backstrom, the Capitals halted a two-game slide to the Flames with a 7-2 win at Calgary in the lone meeting a season ago.
The Caps are 11-2-1 with a pair of ties in the last 16 encounters between these clubs in Washington.
